Loving Care Was Red
by lozlol
Summary: Matt Donovan, Tyler Lockwood, Klaus Mikaelson, Stefan Salvatore and Alaric Saltzman reveal the moment they fell in love with Caroline Forbes; and what they were thinking at the time.
1. Matt

**_Loving Care Was Red_**

 ** _The five guys who have loved Caroline Forbes reveal their thoughts at the moment they fell in love with the blonde beauty. First up... Matt._**

 ** _Disclaimer: I don't own anything; the song, the show, the lines I used from the show, etc. :)_**

 _ **1\. Matt:**_

"A washed up jock who pours drinks for a living." He turned away as she said the words to Bonnie, feeling like he'd been stabbed in the heart. He and Caroline hadn't been all that close before, but they were starting friendship, and then she had to go say something like that. Sure, she hadn't been saying it about him, but who was he kidding? He was just Matt Donovan; no-one special. He was never going to get out of this small town. The only future he could see for himself was high school dances and pouring drinks at The Brew.

He pushed past her to get to the kitchen, replying only with a nod to her greeting.

* * *

He'd managed to hide out in the kitchen for a good five minutes before his boss told him to go clean up a table. Groaning silently to himself, he walked past Caroline, keeping his head turned away. "Seriously?"

He turned to face her, cocking his head. "Is that for me?"

She rolled her eyes, shrugging her shoulders minutely. "Do you see anyone else in the vicinity?"

Her sarcasm was blatant, almost cutting. He replied, "Do you need something?" Hoping to move away as soon as possible.

"Why are you mad at me?" He just shook his head but she raised her eyebrows. "Yes you are. You're ignoring me."

"No I'm not." He cut in, in that moment wanting her to hurt as much as she'd hurt him. "I'm working. I have a table to clean. That's what washed up jocks have to do to earn a living." He stormed away before she could respond.

She would never understand, she was nothing like him. She'd grown up with two parents who loved her, albeit separately, but he'd never even had one. All he'd ever had was his sister, and these days Vicki was too busy with Tyler Lockwood or Jeremy Gilbert or whoever was her next boy of the week to talk to him.

As he cleaned the table she came up behind him, apologising, but saying she hadn't been talking about him. True, not specifically, but he was just like Ben McKittric, this was clearly how she felt about him. That he was just some small town boy, destined for a small town life. And she was too big for that. Too beautiful. Too amazing. He knew she was going to do great things. He knew she was gonna get out of this town.

"I'm a terrible, awful person- but I'm working on it." Why did this sound like a couple's fight? They weren't even dating.

"Can we just not do this right now?"

"Okay, when do you get off?" She asked, not getting his point.

He let out a breath and pushed back the box containing the plates, a cluttering sound resonating through his thoughts. "Look," He said. "This thing that we've got; it's nice and it feels really good and I know you wanna take the next step-" as he said the words he realised how true they were. He hadn't felt anything like this since Elena. Oh god, Elena.

"How do you know that? Have you even asked me?-"

"I'm, I'm not over Elena." The smile on Caroline's face faded and he felt like a criminal for taking it away. Immediately he tried to rectify his words. "I mean, I don't know if I am." She was his first love and he still loved her, it felt like he always would. Was that normal though? Maybe you would just supposed to move on? Maybe it was okay to feel like this, so long as you kept moving. Maybe that was his problem. But if he and Caroline did progress their relationship they would lose this. And this was the best thing he had going for him right then. He never wanted to disappoint her and hurt her.

The look on her face was his realisation that he'd said the words out loud. She looked so hurt. He never wanted to make her look like that. "Big problem Matt, you already took the next step, all by yourself." His forehead creased. "And you played it all out in your head, and you decided to bail before even giving it a shot. So this thing that we have, for worry about losing it, because it's long gone."

He just stared after her as she stormed away from him; beautiful and passionate. She was right. He'd spent so much time thinking reasons through why he shouldn't do this, imagining horrible outcomes, that he hadn't stop to think about what he was really feeling. And when he did it all became crystal clear. _**He was in love with Caroline Forbes.**_ He didn't want to ever lose her. He wanted to be with her forever. He dumped his towel down on the table and hurried outside, not listening to his boss shouting after him. She wasn't in the parking lott, so he got in his truck and drove down the road slowly until he saw her, making sure he wouldn't miss her. God, she was fast, storming away with her arms crossed. "Caroline!" He called out of the window as he drove along slowly beside her and she just ignored him.

Pulling the truck to a halt in the middle of the road he pushed open the door and ran around the side, to where she would have to cross. He kept walking as she asked him "what?-" And then he crashed into her lips, holding her against him. He didn't deepen the kiss, instead he pulled back and told her,

"This will never work," grinning like a lunatic despite himself. She beamed back, and he kissed her again.


	2. Tyler

_**AN: Thanks so much for the support so far guys! Hope you enjoy the next little drabble.**_

 _ **2\. Tyler**_

He'd been sat on the swing by her door for what felt like hours, he'd sit there for however long it took though. He needed to see her, to thank her. She'd been there for him from the beginning of his transformation. She'd been the only person who'd helped him through it after his Uncle Mason left. She'd stood by him the whole time in his transformation; even though he could have killed her; he wasn't sure if that part was brave or stupid.

His heightened wolf senses heard footsteps and he looked up, getting to his feet when he saw it was her. "Hey," he approached her as she momentarily paused on the step, looking surprised to see him, and not in a good way. "Where have you been?"

She shrugged, by now she was just in front of him. "Uh, school, uh. What's up, what do you want?"

He bowed his head. "We need to talk."

Giving him a confused look, she asked, "why?" He opened his mouth to shape words, but they wouldn't form. "What's wrong with you?" She giggled.

"I just don't understand one thing," He said. "Why would you risk it?" She gave him a look that implied she didn't know what he meant. What did he mean? Well, he meant any of it. All of it. "If a werewolf bite kills a vampire, why would you risk it?" He repeated.

"Because you needed help," she replied, as if it was the simplest thing in the world.

"I could have killed you!" He responded immediately, decidedly certain her reasoning wasn't enough.

She countered, "But you didn't." He stared at her.

They'd known each other since childhood but this was the first year he'd actually started to take notice of her. Some of the first things he took notice of were her selfishness, her insecurity, her control freak ways, then her willingness to help him, her loyalty. He sighed, staring into her eyes. "Man, I don't understand you Caroline."

She gave him that astounded look again, then pushed past him to the door, unlocking it and speaking as she did so. "Why is it so hard for you to let someone else help you?"

That wasn't what he'd meant. His brow crinkled. "Well, that's not it."

"Yeah, it is Tyler. It's like you don't want anybody to care about you. And I'm sorry" She spun around. "But I care. I care about you." She cared about him, like he cared about her. This couldn't be real. His parents had never cared. None of his friends had really. None of his past girlfriends either. But this girl had sat beside him so he wasn't alone in his time of need, despite the fact that it could have led to her death. "And I'm sorry if I overstepped my boundaries by actually giving a-" _**He was in love with Caroline Forbes.**_

He practically leapt over, holding her arms and then her face as he kissed her. He pulled back briefly, but she didn't pull away. She wanted this. She wanted him. He felt practically giddy. He held onto her, sucking on her delicious lips until she pushed him away from her, holding her hands up like she was praying. She shook her head and he just stared. "You can't do that!" He glanced at her unsure what to say except...

"I'm sorry!" He replied. "But I-"

She shook her head, her voice cracking as she practically shouted, "Everyone just needs to stop kissing me!" And then she rushed inside, slamming the door in his face as he stood with his arms held out in surrender.

 ** _AN: Next up (my favourite Caroline love interest), Klaus!_**


	3. Klaus

_**3\. Klaus**_

Staring through fair Caroline's front door, he waited for the blond human boy to open the door. When he finally did, Klaus wasted no time. "Tyler came to see me," he explained. "Poor boy, he seemed quite distressed, he said Caroline had had a terrible accident."

The blond boy glared at him, anger clear in his body language, as well as the vicious tone of his words. "You made him do this to her," he accused. "He would have never done something like this." Of course not. Tyler was the perfect hybrid, the perfect friend, the perfect boyfriend.

"I am here to help, Matt." He said, trying to stop the emotion from pouring out in his voice. He registered Caroline's mother walking in and added. "Please tell the sheriff to let me come in."

Liz Forbes raised an eyebrow. "I know this game, you want something in return."

He did, but not from her. What he wanted was Caroline's forgiveness. He wasn't sure why but he felt drawn to this beautiful girl and he couldn't stand the thought of her hating him. "Just your support," he said, knowing she wouldn't believe what he wanted even if he told her.

She assessed him for a moment, as if trying to see if he was telling the truth- then she invited him in.

* * *

Caroline was lying in her bed, looking weak and frail, when he entered. When she opened her eyes and saw him there asked limply, "are you going to kill me?"

"On your birthday?" The concern on his face was probably evident, but he didn't care in that moment. "Do you really think that low of me?"

" _Yes_." She replied shortly.

Slowly, he peeled back the cover to see the bite, hearing her breath hitch and cursing himself for hurting her. He let out a small shocked gasp himself. "That looks bad." That was sugar coating it. He'd seen this many a time before. She didn't have long left. "My apologies, you're what's known as collateral damage- it's... nothing personal." He flicked the charm bracelet on her wrist and thought about what he could do to make this up to her. "I love birthdays."

She laughed weakly, a beautiful sound, even in her current state. "Yeah, aren't you like a billion?"

He didn't laugh himself, at least not aloud, but he couldn't stop the amusement from colouring her voice. She was adorable. "Well, you have to adjust your perception of time when you become a vampire Caroline... Celebrate the fact that you're no longer bound by trivial conventions." He smiled, the most genuine smile he'd had in a long time. "You're free."

"No," she denied it. "I'm dying."

The smile fell from his lips and he lowered himself to sit beside her on her bed, she didn't move away. "And I could let you," he whispered. "Die. If that's what you want." He prayed that she wouldn't, and he tried to convey his urgency in his tone. "If you truly believe your life has no meaning." Though how she could believe that he didn't know. She was so loved, by so many. And yet... "I've thought about it myself, once or twice, over the centuries, truth be told." He remembered when Tatia died, the depression he had gone into. When he thought Marcel was gone forever. A tear slid down his face and he remembered his words to Elijah oh so many centuries ago. Love is a vampire's greatest weakness. And we are not weak. We do not feel. We do not care. But it was all lies. He cared, he loved, he felt- he always had. Bending down conspiratorially, he whispered, "But I'll let you in on a little secret." She stared up at him, their blue eyes meeting as he let one more tear fall. "There's a whole world out there waiting for you; great cities and art and music." He wanted to show it all to her. He let his hand trace up her arm back to the bracelet, his eyes following it, then they met hers again. "Genuine beauty." Just like her. "And you can have all of it. All of you have to do is ask."

Her lip tremored and she said passionately, letting out a small sob, "I don't want to die!"

His lip quirked upwards with happiness and he pulled up his sleeve, pulling her up towards him. She let out a tiny gasp as he pulled her gently against his chest. Stroking her hair, he moved his wrist to her mouth. "There you go love," he whispered. "Have at it."

Love. That was what he was feeling. _He was in love with Caroline Forbes._ And maybe that was okay.

 ** _AN: Woo! I love Klaroline._**

 ** _Next up, Stefan._**


	4. Stefan

_**4\. Stefan**_

He'd had a lot of thinking to do since he regained his humanity; not just about what he'd done while off the rails, but who he'd done it with. Even with her humanity off Caroline had remained so- Caroline. Unlike him, who was entirely different with it off. He was an awful person like that, and he'd done awful things, but what he felt worst about was making her do awful things. He remembered feeding and then wiping the blood from his victim across her mouth, enticing her with kisses, what he knew she wanted, as if it were a past life. The memories were both blurry and pin clear at the same time.

He glanced down at the list he'd been writing and then threw it down on the table, grabbed his keys and headed out to his car. Soon, he found himself in front of her door. He was gathering up the courage to knock when she came down the stairs, them towards him. He smiled at her and she returned it. "Hey," grinned Caroline.

"Hi," he smiled back at her, and she led him into the living room. They were both sat on armchairs before he cleared his throat, though his voice still came out throaty and deep with emotion. "Yesterday, you told me you'd made a list of all the ways that loving me had ruined your life." She opened her mouth as if to say she was sorry, but he shook his head. She was right. He had ruined her life. He had ruined all their lives. If he hadn't come back into town for Elena, none of this would have ever happened; Damon wouldn't have followed him back and hurt her, all these people wouldn't have died, all these people that she loved. She wouldn't have to suffer with the burdens of losing everyone, and still being there, still being seventeen. "But I made a list too," he continued. "Of all the ways that loving you has changed mine." Her eyes went up to him in shock and he nodded minutely. She'd been so many things to him; his girlfriend's friend, his ally, his friend, his sober sponsor, his best friend. It had been such a shock when she'd told him about her feelings that he'd just stood there, unsure of his own feelings. He hadn't had a chance to even think about if if he felt that way about her. So he'd told her now wasn't the right time, and it had let her to lose her humanity. It had been the final push off the edge.

Once he'd gotten his own humanity back, he'd slowly come to the realisation that he did have feelings for her, and he was coming to accept them. She was by his side when he needed a friend. She made him laugh. When they danced, she told him that he would find love again. "And I understand if you need time to heal, and to live your life without me. I understand if I have to wait for you. And I will," he nodded. "When you're ready for me, I'll be waiting for you."

He stood up slowly and before he moved away he bent down and kissed her cheek. Oh yes, _he was in love with Caroline Forbes._

 _ **AN: Thanks to everyone who has supported this story so far! Hope you're still enjoying it :)**_


	5. Alaric

_**AN: This is the last drabble, I hope you've enjoyed them!**_

 _ **I'm thinking of posting my AU 1492 story which is**_ _ **Klaroline/Kennet/Elejah/Kolvina/Stebekah/Stelena/Delena/Noralise/Bonora (I think that's it but there could be more lol). Would anyone be interested in reading that?**_

 _ **5\. Alaric**_

Looking down on the two most beautiful little faces he'd ever seen, his thoughts couldn't help but drift to the woman who'd given birth to them. Caroline. She'd been his student, once upon a time. And then a lot happened. She'd died. He'd killed her dad. He'd died. He'd tortured her. He'd died again. He came back to life. He got engaged to Jo, and she was pregnant. Jo died. The babies were transferred into Caroline. Despite her originally seeming horrified at the whole thing, he saw her face when Valerie revealed the twins on the ultrasound to them. She'd looked thrilled that this was real, that the babies were alive and safe, and he'd felt much the same way.

She'd not shut him out of the pregnancy, as she could have easily done, seeing as they weren't really anything to each other; friends, sure, but not close ones. He remembered how extremely enthusiastic she'd been, how many of the books she'd proudly announced to have read, and how he'd been reading the same ones. He remembered how she'd poured her heart out to him about her worries on if she was doing this right. He remembered the baby shower, where he'd heard her infectious laughter as he punched the air for doing up the diaper on the baby doll the fastest. Then, he'd come over to talk to her and the babies had kicked. He'd put his hand on her stomach and she'd said she could tell them apart, "of course". He chuckled at the memory.

Soon after that was a worse memory though, one of her sorting through the shower gifts as he came in, telling him she'd found the letter. He didn't want to move away from her, just Mystic Falls. Anyway, he'd been under the impression that she didn't want to be involved once the babies were born. She still denied that she did, but he could see it in her face. Her voice had cracked as she'd told him it was a good idea for him and 'his' babies to move away.

When Stefan had called him to say she was in labour, he'd hurried over as fast as he could and watched with pain as she struggled under the siphoner powers of the babies, determined to drain her. As he wheeled the twins down the corridor he whispered, "we're going to see Caroline now. Don't hurt her, you kinda owe her."

He rounded the corridor into her hospital room and saw her sat on the bed, tears falling from her eyes. She'd just hung up her phone and placed it down, forcing herself to look a little put together. "Oh my god," she said, her hands at her face, clearly stunned by the reality of it all.

He offered her a small smile. "You wanna hold them?"

"Are you sure that's okay?" She asked, her voice heavy with emotion. She moved her hands down, her eyes never leaving the kids.

He shrugged. "Yeah, Valerie said it shouldn't be a problem... something about the umbilical cord, I dunno..." he bent down and picked up one of his daughters, cradling her like a collector would hold his most prized, beloved object. "I was a little distracted," he chuckled, lowering her down into her surrogate mother's arms. "This is Josie," he told her. "In honour of their mother." She gave him a soft, empathetic look and then her eyes were back to Josie, cradling her in the same way he just had. Her eyes took in their daughter's beautiful little face, while he moved back over to the other twin. "And this one," he lifted her up to cradle her. "This is Elizabeth." Caroline's head shot up, and her eyes started to tear up. "In honour of your mother."

He'd wanted to do something for her, to show her how much he appreciated her, how thankful he was, how much he loved her. **_He was in love with Caroline Forbes_** , and he was almost certain she didn't love him back, but as they held a long gaze and then looked at the children they shared, he saw the huge smile blooming on her face, the biggest one he'd seen on her face in well, ever, and he thought to himself, maybe if didn't matter. Maybe this was enough.


End file.
